Theme:
Rejuvenate, Reinvent, Revitalize

One of the largest problems with Midwesterners is that we incessantly look backward rather than forwards. We reminisce on the past and how great things used to be “back in the day”. Midwesterners old enough to have experienced the heyday of manufacturing in the region exchange “remember whens” and tell friends and families of the glory of when the Midwest was the backbone of the American economy. Smaller Midwestern cities market themselves as "Old _____" or "Historical _____" or perhaps the cradle of some bygone invention or the birthplace of an obscure figure in history. One can only assume that this marketing ploy attracts little more than antique fanatics and pedantic historians; fewer of which exist than are required to maintain a city. Midwesterners need a paradigm, we need to start emphasizing innovation rather than stagnation in our cities.

Of the college bound residents in the Midwest, many are leaving and never returning; it doesn’t take much insight to figure out why. Smaller Midwestern cities have accepted a fate of banality. Young people are leaving for cities with a faster paced life, cities full of people who are innovators and trail blazers people who want and need progress and change. Smaller Midwestern cities needs these people to return and invest themselves in their hometowns. Cities need to create an environment of entrepreneurship and need to attract entrepreneurs who will then create new opportunities for our college graduates to return home to. Detroit’s population decreased by 25% over the past decade and without change many Midwestern cities may face a similar decline. The Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, aware that Detroit’s manufacturing sector is likely in a permanent decline said, “We cannot cling to the old ways of doing business. We cannot successfully transition to the ‘New Michigan’ if young, talented workers leave our state.” The Midwest and all its cities cannot cling on the old ways of doing business and the Midwest cannot successfully transition into a region associated with innovation without the retention of its residents and a change from the old.

​Come attend TEDxRichmond and show your allegiance to the future; help us start an innovative dialoge that looks towards change in the Midwest as being a necessity rather than a risk to avoid. TEDxRichmond will promote new ideas worth sharing, the event will be an avenue where the audience will both learn from speakers and teach each other about events that are making the Midwest a greater place. Together we can enact change and together we can make the Midwest a greater place to live, work, and play.

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed.
Check event website for more information.

Andre Leroux

As Executive Director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, André has led efforts to reform zoning laws, increase transportation investment, and create a network of great places. He established Great Neighborhoods to support local groups and helped launch Transportation for Massachusetts to advocate for walking, biking, and public transportation.
Before joining the Alliance, André led the Reviviendo Gateway Initiative (RGI) in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a model of public-private partnership for urban revitalization. Composed of residents, property owners, government officials, artists, nonprofit organizations, and businesspeople, RGI sparked more than $120 million of investment in the City of Lawrence in three years. André also led the creation of two smart growth zoning districts in the city, helped to found a cultural economic development initiative, and coordinated a research and educational collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology called MIT@Lawrence.
A graduate of Dartmouth College, he also completed two years of graduate studies at El Colegio de México in Mexico City studying urban development and environmental impact assessment. He has worked at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University and the Massachusetts State Senate. André co-authored a PolicyLink report in 2007 with MIT Professor Lorlene Hoyt called Voices from Forgotten Cities: Innovative Revitalization Coalitions in America's Older Small Cities. He is fluent in Spanish.

Stacey Wagner

Stacey Jarrett Wagner, Manager of Workforce Systems Development at the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, has over twenty years of experience in workforce development, conducting research and providing strategic thinking and technical assistance on workforce development issues for the American Society for Training and Development, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Association of Community Colleges, the National Center for Education and the Economy, the Center for Energy Workforce Development, ARAMARK, and the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, among others. Now, her work for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) includes integrating workforce development as a critical business strategy in the MEP’s Next Generation Strategies (NGS) initiative. NGS weaves together strategic planning in five areas for manufacturers: Technology Acceleration, Continuous Improvement, Sustainability, Supplier Development and Workforce Development. These strategies underpin the MEP’s push toward innovation and growth for American manufacturing (www.nist.gov/mep).
Stacey has a B.A. in International Relations from American University in Washington, DC and a certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility from Harvard Business School in Boston, MA. She has done graduate work in Organizational Development at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Rob Zinkan

Rob Zinkan is Vice Chancellor for External Affairs at Indiana University East, where he leads an advancement team focused on furthering the mission of the university and enhancing its reputation, relationships, and resources. During the past five years, enrollment has increased by 85 percent at Indiana University East, and its Office of External Affairs has been recognized with more than 40 regional and national awards for excellence and innovation in university advancement. A Richmond native, Rob has been with Indiana University for 10 years, working previously at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus as Assistant Dean for Advancement. Before joining IU, he worked in athletics administration with previous stops at Ashland University (Ohio) and Northwestern State University (La.), both as Assistant Athletic Director for External Relations. Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wabash College and Master of Education from Xavier University and is a doctoral student at Creighton University (Neb.) He authors the University Advancement blog at UniversityAdvancement.net and is vice president of the Indiana chapter of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Chris Hardie

Chris Hardie is a community builder and technology consultant living in Richmond, Indiana. He’s the Principal of Summersault LLC, which has created Internet solutions for organizations locally and across the country since 1997. Summersault’s mission is “to build and sustain communities using the technologies of the Internet.” This also reflects Chris’s personal interests as he works with a number of media projects, sustainability movements, and community building organizations. He speaks and writes about a variety topics related to emerging technical and cultural issues. Chris’s personal website and blog can be found at http://www.chrishardie.com.

Ted Hall

Ted Hall, founder and CEO of ShopBot Tools, Inc., first got excited about digital fabrication 20 years ago. Ted wanted a digitally controlled tool that would cut plywood parts for backyard boatbuilding projects. In trying to find such a tool, he learned that the CNC (computer numerically controlled) technology of the time was heavily industrial and oriented to high-volume manufacturing. Ted's idea, which would become ShopBot, was to create a digital fabrication tool that was instead oriented to use by individuals and small shops. A tool that took advantage of the technology’s capability to cut, drill, sculpt, machine, carve, or trim with high precision and in relation to a digital model – but that made sense in a small shop for making one object or many, and that empowered individuals through the new technology with enhanced capabilities to express their creativity in projects of all sizes and using a wide range of materials.
Since starting ShopBot Tools 16 years ago, Ted has not had a chance to build many boats, but today there are thousands of ShopBots fabricating away in garage shops, hacker spaces, schools, FabLabs, and small and large manufacturing operations around the world – making an incredible variety of things. A new networked community of digital fabricators, www.100kGarages.com started by Bill Young and Ted, has emerged as a singular resource for anyone wanting to get something made, emphasizing and building on the relationship between digital models, digital fabrication tools, and their potential to return local production and manufacturing to our communities. For 25 years before ShopBotting and digital fabrication began to consume all his time, Ted did neuroscience research and taught at Duke University. He is still captivated by basic questions about brain processes underlying behavior, but for the moment focuses on making tools.
ShopBot Tools develops and manufactures tools for digital fabrication at its facility in Durham NC. ShopBots come in sizes from a Desktop model that does both subtractive and additive digital fab, to 10ft x 30ft machines that fabricate parts for trucks, boats, houses, and airplanes. www.ShopBotTools.com

Denver Hutt

A born Californian but Hoosier at Heart, Denver Hutt entered the Indianapolis startup community in 2009 after graduating from Indiana University. Denver is currently the Executive Director of The Speak Easy; an Indianapolis nonprofit and startup hub. The Speak Easy mission of “Growing (up) Indiana’s startup scene” echoes her vision to empower entrepreneurs to be entrepreneurial through building a community of collaboration, creativity and education.